Clients from Longmont nonprofit Soft Voices are putting their creative skills to work to help raise money for the drop-in center that supports people with mental illnesses.

Paintings from clients who attend the nonprofit's weekly art classes will be sold alongside pieces from local artists and community members like Longmont Mayor Dennis Coombs. But buyers will not know who the artist is until the purchase is made.

Dozens of paintings will be sold through live and silent auctions during the nonprofit's first fundraiser Thursday at the 17th Avenue Place Event Center. Artists signatures, which are on the back of the canvases, will be revealed after the paintings are sold, organizers said.

If you go

What: An Evening of Art: live and silent auction

When: 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday

Where: 17th Avenue Place Event Center, 478 17th Ave., Longmont

Cost: $30

More info: contact Wanda Ferguson at 303-908-2060

"It's like our program — the artists are all equal," said volunteer Wanda Ferguson. "It doesn't matter who painted it, it's about what speaks to people."

"An Evening of Art," is the nonprofit's first fundraiser since launching in 2003, inspired by a recent increase in clients and subsequent program expansion.

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The organization has seen a 20 percent increase in clients since the beginning of the year, Ferguson said. Right now, about 40 clients, who most commonly suffer from severe depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, visit the center per week, she said.

As mental health awareness grows, more people are being diagnosed with issues and are seeking support from organizations like Soft Voices, Ferguson said.

The drop-in center is a program of Mental Health Partners that provides a space in Longmont, 501 Fifth Ave., where people with mental illnesses can find support, socialize and participate in art therapy sessions.

The center's annual budget is about $30,000, which covers the cost of two part-time peer staff, art supplies, food and rent, said Ruth Arnold of Mental Health Partners, who oversees the program.

The nonprofit has been funded by grants so far, but more funding will be needed as clients and programs continue to grow.

Weekly craft sessions, spaghetti dinners and nightly walks are part of the drop-in center's newest offerings but art classes are the nonprofit's flagship offering.

Longmont resident Bradley Books, 34, works on an acrylic oil painting at Soft Voices, 501 Fifth Ave. Soft Voices will hold their first fundraiser Thursday to support an increase in clients and expanding programs. (Lewis Geyer / Longmont Times-Call)

Art director Paula Peacock teaches art classes on Fridays as a way to help clients forget their illness and the judgement that often accompanies it by focusing on art.

On April 18, Peacock helped a group of clients decorate keepsake boxes with alcohol ink and broken egg shells — a metaphor not lost on Bradley Books.

Longmont resident Books, 34, attends most Friday art classes. He said the projects make him feel productive and remind him of the beauty in life.

"The cracks are what make the paint look so cool," Books said.

Other clients worked on their own projects.

One woman sat across the table, teasing Books about his stained fingers while she started her latest cross-stitch project.

Charlie Armstrong, a homeless man who has a camp near Lyons, couldn't find a ride into town that day but he attended an art class the following week on April 25.

Armstrong, 60, attends classes at Soft Voices as often as he can but it's not always easy to hitchhike from his camp to the Longmont center.

"Art is soothing," Armstrong said. "It takes you out of this world and puts me in another place, anywhere I want to go."

Books and Armstrong will have paintings for sale at the fundraiser Thursday.

The center focuses on creating a community for people with mental illnesses and eliminating the stigma and judgement that often coincides with a diagnosis, said volunteer coordinator John Parsons.

"The absence of questions make this a safe place," Parsons said. "We offer low-key, stress-free programming that's all anonymous. It's a safe space."

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